Collaboration in China’s E-Government: A Cultural-Theory Analysis

The Chinese government has realized its inability to deliver the level of public services required by a rapidly expanding economy and a pluralizing society. Recently, microblogs and other social media along with successful e-commerce corporations with user-friendly and fast services have put a tremendous pressure on the government, challenging the prevailing hierarchical culture. China’s urbanites have become used to the convenience of online shopping, placing an order online in the morning and receiving the goods in the afternoon. Chinese central and local governments are acutely aware of the challenge of producing services that resemble this level of efficiency. They have adapted to this new environment by reengineering their work processes using digital information and communication technologies (ICT). This is all part of a larger trend, as e-government (the use of ICT in the public administration) has reshaped public agencies all over China during the last quarter of a century (Qiu and Hachigian 2005; Schl æ ger 2013). Design and construction of new ICT systems require expert knowledge, and hence government is enticed to include a broader set of actors in policy formulation and implementation.